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The Cult of the Pah-wraiths was formed after the CardassianOccupation of Bajor by Bajorans who believed that the Prophets had abandoned them by watching while Bajor was ravaged. Members of the Cult embraced the notion that the Pah-wraiths would bring about the Restoration of Bajor. They identified themselves by wearing red earrings and red armbands.

After Dukat released the Pah-wraith into the wormhole, he became "the Master" of the Cult and led some fifty members to the abandoned Cardassian station of Empok Nor, where they founded a colony.

Fala, a member of the Cult of the Pah-wraiths

Later in 2375, VedekFala abducted ColonelKira Nerys from Deep Space 9 at Dukat's orders, and attempted to convert her to the Pah-wraiths. During her time there, a Cultist named Mika gave birth to a half-Cardassian child, which Dukat claimed was a symbol of the covenant between him and his followers. However, Mika's husband, Benyan, and others were unconvinced, and Dukat attempted to have his followers commit mass suicide by ingesting promazine capsules, to keep them from turning against him.

Kira, suspicious of Dukat's intentions from the start, exposed Dukat's capsule as a fake and revealed that he had no intention of dying with the rest of the Cultists. Dukat escaped from the station, while his betrayed and disillusioned followers abandoned the Cult and returned with Kira aboard the USS Defiant. However, Fala, devastated by these events, took his capsule and committed suicide before the Defiant arrived. (DS9: "Covenant")

During the development of DS9: "Covenant", the idea of a group of Bajoran Pah-wraith cultists being led by Dukat was conceptually preceded by a new race of aliens being led by him. The notion of Dukat's followers being the Cult of the Pah-wraiths was thought up by René Echevarria (who was credited with writing the installment) and all the rest of the show's writing staff found it an agreeable concept. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 632) However, Echevarria was ultimately dissatisfied with how the cult is portrayed in "Covenant". "I don't think we quite invested enough in the cultists, or saw what they were getting out of it," he stated. "I don't think the Bajorans came off three-dimensionally enough. You can infer many things about where these people are coming from, but it was hard to sell that they were broken in some way." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 32, Nos. 4/5, p. 50)